Bonkers (TV series) facts for kids

Bonkers is an American animated TV show from Disney. It's a spin-off from a series of cartoon shorts called He's Bonkers, which were part of Disney's Raw Toonage. The show first aired on February 28, 1993, and ran until February 23, 1994. You could watch it on The Disney Channel for a sneak peek, and then it was shown widely in syndication, often as part of The Disney Afternoon block. Reruns continued until 1995 and later on Toon Disney until 2004.

What is Bonkers About?

The show is about a bobcat named Bonkers D. Bobcat. He's a cartoon character who used to be a big star. But then his show wasn't as popular, so he became a police officer!

Bonkers teams up with Detective Lucky Piquel, a human who isn't a big fan of cartoons. They work together to solve crimes in Hollywood. Bonkers often tries to impress Lucky, but his silly cartoon actions usually mess things up. However, sometimes his goofy ways actually help solve the case!

After a while, Lucky Piquel gets a job with the FBI in Washington, D.C.. He's happy to leave Bonkers, but he realizes he'll miss him. Bonkers then gets a new partner, Officer Miranda Wright. She's also human, but she's much more patient with Bonkers' antics than Lucky was. With Miranda, Bonkers often ends up being the one who experiences the funny, clumsy situations.

Meet the Characters

Bonkers D. Bobcat

Bonkers, as he appears in the series

Bonkers D. Bobcat (voiced by Jim Cummings) is a very energetic and active cartoon bobcat. He works in the Toon Division of the Hollywood Police Department. He used to be a famous cartoon star for Wackytoons Studios. But his show lost its top spot, so he was let go.

Bonkers became a police officer after he accidentally helped Officer Lucky Piquel catch a mugger who was bothering Donald Duck. The police chief, Leonard Kanifky, thought Bonkers was a hero. Bonkers told the chief that his experience in police cartoons helped him. The chief thought his cartoon roles were real-life police work! So, he offered Bonkers a job, which Bonkers accepted because he was out of work. Bonkers asked for Lucky to be his partner, and that's how the Toon Division started.

Even though Bonkers means well, he often causes problems for his partners. This is because he doesn't have much police experience and acts like a wild cartoon. He even tells Lucky that he's not good at serious police thinking because he's a toon. Bonkers' look and personality change a bit between the "Lucky" episodes and the "Miranda" episodes. He doesn't carry a weapon, but he does have a police badge.

In the "Miranda" episodes, Bonkers is often clumsy and silly, and things tend to happen to him. In the "Lucky" episodes, he's less goofy and more like a detective who knows a lot about cartoons. This knowledge helps him solve cases involving other toons. His main challenge is his lack of real police training.

Bonkers also makes a quick appearance as a police officer in the 2017 DuckTales TV show.

Supporting Friends

• Fall Apart Rabbit (voiced by Frank Welker) is Bonkers' best friend and stunt double from his Hollywood days. He only appears in the "Lucky Episodes." He literally falls into pieces easily and wears bandages to stay together. He's often very silly.
• Fawn Deer (voiced by Nancy Cartwright) is Bonkers' main love interest and co-star when he was a cartoon actor. Bonkers always tries to make her happy. Fawn clearly likes him back, often showing it with kisses. She mostly appears in the "Miranda Episodes."

The Piquel Family

• Detective Lucky Shirley Piquel (voiced by Jim Cummings) is Bonkers' partner in the "Lucky Episodes." He's a serious, tough detective who follows the rules. This often clashes with Bonkers' wild cartoon style. The police chief often mispronounces his last name as "Pickle." Lucky is the father of Marilyn and husband to Dilandra. He drives an old police car.
• Marilyn Piquel (voiced by Sherry Lynn) is Lucky's very smart daughter. She loves art and writing stories. She understands cartoons like Bonkers very well. She often helps her dad with cases, giving him good advice or information. She looks like her mom but has big glasses and freckles.
• Dilandra "Dyl" Piquel (voiced by April Winchell) is Lucky's understanding wife. She supports her husband and encourages their daughter Marilyn.

The Wright Family

• Miranda Wright (voiced by Karla DeVito) is a police officer and Bonkers' partner in the "Miranda Episodes." Her name is a play on "Miranda rights," which are rights people have when they are arrested.
• Shirley Wright is a news reporter and Miranda's older sister. She is also Timmy's mother.
• Timmy Wright is Miranda Wright's spoiled nephew. He seems cute but is very sneaky and smart. He enjoys playing tricks on Bonkers, knowing that no one, not even his aunt, would believe Bonkers if he complained about Timmy.

Hollywood Police Department Officers

• Chief Leonard Kanifky (voiced by Earl Boen) is the forgetful Chief of Police. He is the boss of Lucky and Bonkers (before Bonkers gets a new partner). He also appears in some Miranda episodes. He often talks on and on, and always says Lucky's last name wrong.
• Sergeant Francis Q. Grating (voiced by Ron Perlman) is the boss of Bonkers and Miranda. Bonkers often drives him a little crazy. Like Lucky, he doesn't like cartoons much. However, he does show some respect for Bonkers after Bonkers saves him.

Other Recurring Characters

• The Mad Hatter and March Hare – From Disney's Alice in Wonderland, they appear a few times in the show. They seem to live inside the Hollywood Sign.
• Toots (voiced by Frank Welker) – Bonkers' pet horn. He only appears in the "Lucky Episodes."
• Police Light (voiced by Charlie Adler) – The cartoon police light. He only appears in the "Lucky Episodes."
• Broderick (voiced by Jim Cummings) – The cartoon radio. He only appears in the "Lucky Episodes."
• Jitters A. Dog (voiced by Jeff Bennett) – A small, nervous dog who was Bonkers' sidekick in Raw Toonage and the Miranda episodes. He often gets hurt because of Bonkers' wild actions. His catchphrase is, "I hate my life."
• Grumbles Grizzly (voiced by Rodger Bumpass) – A grizzly bear who was Bonkers' strict boss in Raw Toonage. He sometimes appears in Bonkers.
• Harry the Handbag (voiced by Frank Welker) – A cartoon handbag who captures objects and people inside himself. He thinks this will make him feel less lonely.
• Tiny (voiced by Charlie Adler) – A huge but polite hamster who stayed at Lucky's house to hide from a scary shadow. The shadow turns out to be his small friend, Mr. Big.
• Pops Clock (voiced by Stuart Pankin) – The cartoon keeper of "toon-time," which helps keep cartoons under control. He was upset because no one appreciated his work.
• Skunky Skunk (voiced by Rip Taylor) – A favorite cartoon TV star of Marilyn Piquel. He was wrongly accused of a crime by a chef who then tried to harm him.
• Professor Ludwig Von Drake (voiced by Corey Burton) – A scientist duck who sometimes appears as an expert or inventor of things Bonkers uses.
• Roderick Lizzard (voiced by Jeff Bennett) – A yellow iguana who is a grumpy actor. He acts like a British noble.
  • Tuttle Turtle (voiced by Maurice LaMarche) – A cartoon turtle who is Roderick Lizzard's helper.
• Bucky Buzzsaw (voiced by Pat Fraley) – A cartoon Beaver who has his own show at Wackytoon Studios. He appears in the Miranda Episodes.
• Slap, Sniffle and Plop – Three cartoon characters.
• Brer Bear – From Song of the South. He makes a quick appearance in "Casabonkers."
• Donald Duck (voiced by Tony Anselmo) – A famous Disney duck that Bonkers saved from being robbed.
• Mickey Mouse (voiced by Wayne Allwine)
• Goofy (voiced by Bill Farmer) – He makes a quick appearance with Pete, Max, and PJ from Goof Troop.
• Horace Horsecollar
• Clarabelle Cow
• Darkwing Duck
• Marsupilami
• Lady and the Tramp – They make quick appearances in various episodes, especially the Miranda episodes.
• Mrs. Francine Kanifky (voiced by Tress MacNeille) - Chief Kanifky's wife. She usually appears for a short time, but is more important in some episodes.

Recurring Villains

• The Collector (voiced by Michael Bell) – The first criminal Bonkers meets. He's a cartoon character who collects other cartoons by freezing them. It turns out he's actually a human who loves cartoons too much.
  • Mr. Doodles (voiced by Jeff Bennett) – The Collector's helper.
• Ma Parker (voiced by June Foray) – A cartoon tow truck who tricks Lucky into thinking she's nice. Bonkers discovers she's a criminal stealing parts from their police car to build armor for a monster truck rally.
  • Wooly and Bully (voiced by Rob Paulsen and Pat Fraley) – Ma Tow Truck's silly but not very smart helpers.
• The Rat (voiced by Brad Garrett) – A cartoon rat who was actually a human trying to replace Mickey Mouse.
• The Ape (voiced by Chuck McCann) – Mr. Malone's large cartoon pink gorilla helper.
• Chick and Stu (voiced by Chick Vennera and Tino Insana)
• Mammoth Mammoth – (voiced by Stuart Pankin)
• Toon Bomb – (voiced by Jess Harnell)
• Mr. Big (voiced by S. Scott Bullock) – A cartoon mouse who is very small despite his name. He's a friend to Tiny, the huge hamster. He used a giant shadow to scare Tiny.
• The Weather Toons – Five cartoon characters: Sunny (the sun), Cloudy (a raincloud), Snowy (a pile of snow), Sparky (a lightning bolt), and Toony Tornado (a tornado). They disappeared so the weather channel would get into trouble. They disguised themselves as a butler.
• Louse A. Nominous (voiced by Brad Garrett) – A cartoon criminal that Bonkers and Lucky had to try and reform. He eats everything in his path. He often laughs and says "Ain't I a louse?" after eating something strange.
• Mikey Muffin (voiced by S. Scott Bullock) – The cartoon mascot of Butterman's Bakery. He was blowing up bakeries with "doughbombs" to get Butterman's secret recipe.
• Wacky Weasel (voiced by Rip Taylor) – The smartest and most feared cartoon villain. He loved eggs of all kinds. He even broke into a prison because he heard it was full of "bad eggs." Bonkers was the one who finally outsmarted him.
• Scatter Squirrel (voiced by Tino Insana) – A crazy thief who loves nuts. Lucky and Bonkers had to help the former Chief Kanifky catch him.
• Toon Pencil (voiced by S. Scott Bullock) – A cartoon artist who drew cartoon graffiti all over Hollywood. Marilyn helped her father and Bonkers find him by chasing him into a strange cartoon world where he usually hid.
• Zoom and Boom (voiced by Jimmy Hibbert)
• Warris and Donald – Two cartoon comedians who were losing their color. They kidnapped other cartoons to steal their colors.
• Turbo, Banshee and Kapow
• TJ Finger (voiced by Dan Ferro) - A cartoon actor who kidnapped a TV critic. The critic's bad reviews caused TJ's show to be cancelled.
• Two-Bits (voiced by Gilbert Gottfried) – An executive who used a vacuum to steal audience's change. He wanted to find a special nickel he had lost. He stopped stealing after Bonkers gave him his last nickel, which turned out to be the one he was looking for.
• Fireball Frank (voiced by Brad Garrett) – A villain involved in a plot that caused an episode to be removed from reruns in the US.
• Al Vermin (voiced by Robert Ridgely) – A cartoon cockroach who is Bonkers' enemy in the Miranda episodes.
• Lilith DuPrave (voiced by Eileen Brennan) – The owner of a printing office. She printed fake money and was involved in smuggling and kidnapping cartoons.
  • Mr. Blackenblue (voiced by Maurice LaMarche) – A strong man with glasses who works for Lilith DuPrave as a bodyguard.
• Wild Man Wyatt (voiced by Pat Fraley) – Sergeant Gratling's enemy.
• Catia Legs Go-won-a-lot (voiced by Sherry Lynn) – A cartoon cat who is an actress, singer, and thief.
• Flaps the Elephant (voiced by Joe Alaskey) – A huge cartoon elephant with small ears.
• Seymour Sleazebottom and Limo Seymour (voiced by Corey Burton and Charlie Adler) – A dishonest real estate agent and his pink cartoon limo.

How Bonkers Was Made

The Bonkers TV series had 65 episodes. These episodes were not made in the order they were shown. The "Miranda" episodes were actually produced first, except for the two-part beginning episode where Bonkers and Lucky Piquel first meet. You can see this difference in how Bonkers looks in the two sets of episodes.

In the original Raw Toonage shorts, Bonkers was orange with one brown spot, golf-club-shaped ears, and a messy tail. When the Lucky Piquel episodes were made, Bonkers' look changed a lot: he had thinner ears, two black spots, black stripes on his tail like Tigger, and a different uniform. The Miranda Wright episodes use Bonkers' original look from Raw Toonage. The show also sometimes included old "cartoons" from Bonkers' acting days, which were taken from the Raw Toonage series.

The Raw Toonage shorts were made later. While Bonkers was being planned, a team made 12 "He's Bonkers" shorts. These shorts were later explained in the Bonkers show as cartoons Bonkers made before he was fired. One short, Petal to the Metal, was even shown in movie theaters in 1992 before the movie 3 Ninjas. The rest were shown on the Raw Toonage TV program. Later, these shorts were put together into four full episodes with new parts added in between.

The first team making the "Miranda" episodes had some issues with the animation quality. So, a new team took over. Only 19 of the original "Miranda" episodes were aired. Nine of these were shown on The Disney Channel in early 1993 as a preview. In the official story of the show, these 19 Miranda Wright episodes are shown towards the end of the series. Greg Weisman, who worked on the Miranda episodes, said that Bonkers' relationship with Miranda inspired the relationship between Goliath and Elisa Maza in Disney's Gargoyles.

The new team changed the show's main idea and created the Lucky Piquel episodes. These 42 episodes were set to happen before the original Miranda episodes. One episode, New Partners on the Block, tried to connect the two different storylines.

There was a rumor that Bonkers was supposed to be a spin-off of Roger Rabbit. However, Greg Weisman said in 2008 that while Bonkers was inspired by Roger, and the idea of Toontown came from the movie, Bonkers was always meant to be his own character.

The syndicated version of the series was last seen on Toon Disney until late 2004. You can now stream the series on Disney+ since November 12, 2019.

New Partners on the Block Episode

New Partners on the Block was a special episode that showed how Bonkers changed partners from Lucky Piquel to Miranda Wright. This episode was similar to the first episode, "Going Bonkers," and brought back characters like Fawn Deer, Jitters A. Dog, and Grumbles Grizzly.

In this episode, Bonkers, Miranda, and Lucky caught the main villain, Fireball Frank. This made Bonkers and Miranda a team, and Lucky got his new job as an FBI Agent in Washington, D.C.. Lucky, his wife Dyl, daughter Marilyn, Fall-Apart Rabbit, Toots, and Brodrick the toon radio all moved to Washington, D.C., which explained why they left the show.

This episode was removed from TV reruns in the United States after the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing because it involved a similar plot. It was never shown again on Toon Disney. Another episode, "Fall Apart Bomb Squad," was also not shown for similar reasons. However, both episodes have been rerun in Europe and are available to stream on Disney+.

Home Video Releases

Bonkers was released on three VHS tapes in 1995 by Walt Disney Home Video. Each tape had one or two episodes.

Bonkers Video Games

Bonkers inspired three video games.

• The first game, called Bonkers, was for the Super NES. It came out on December 15, 1994. In this game, Bonkers is on his first solo case. He has to find three special items: the Sorcerer's Hat from Fantasia, the Mermaid's Voice from The Little Mermaid, and the Magic Lamp from Aladdin.
• The second game, also called Bonkers, was for the Sega Mega Drive/Genesis and released on October 1, 1994. In this game, Bonkers wants to win an "Employee of the Month" award. He needs to catch four criminals: Ma Tow Truck, The Rat, Mr. Big, and Harry the Handbag. Lucky is on vacation, so Bonkers has to catch them all by himself.
• The third game, Disney's Bonkers: Wax Up!, was for the Game Gear and Sega Master System (only in Brazil).

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